Movies Based on True Stories, Silhouette Review

Mitch McLeod won heaps of festival appraise at both Bare Bones International Film & Music Festival and Fort Worth Indie Film Showcase 2019. There are plenty of movies based on true stories, and Silhouette is based on the true story of Darlie Routier. The film chooses a dark and psychological horror-thriller angle to narrate from. Does the main antagonist Jack kill women? Yes, yes he just might. But this story is based on a different killer. See the sealed spoiler section below for more details.

Silhouette is from Absentia Pictures and ITN Distribution. There is even a report of an incident involving a walk-out at one of the festivals. Having seen the film, I can say the final act has some disturbing scenes.

What is the Silhouette Movie About?

The story in Silhouette movie describes the tale of Jack and his wife Amanda. For the first act, scant details are given about what’s happened between the pair. What we do learn is that Amanda is haunted by her daughter and for unknown reasons the pair have scurried away to start their lives somewhere new.

Silhouette is very much a slow burn and I found it difficult to stay invested given the limited scope for the characters. None are particularly likable nor fleshed out enough to really understand what’s going on for a good while. Superficially, it comes across as a story about a grieving couple who both have different ways of coping with their lot in life.

Amanda & Jack

Amanda played by April Hartman (Howlers 2018) has a convincing presence on-screen, however, her anguish becomes overwrought at times simply because we already know she is grieving but it plays out the same way through much of the film. Her husband Jack seems quite slimy; irrespective of the story he tells the women he meets. While normally that would be enough to sink my teeth into, instead of telling his story or her story the focus is on arguments about Jack’s whereabouts, insinuations, and the occasional paranormal incident. For some, there is speculation that Jack is killing women. The way this story is told, however, it’s really hard to tell.

Movies Based on True Stories

The film is darkly lit and saturated in shade for much of the lengthy run-time. With the budget made on the lighter side of $25,000, if there were any limitations in the production of the film, you wouldn’t know. Despite my unwillingness to be patient with the pace, it feels purposeful in its delivery.

There are a couple of poignant scenes with conversations between Jack and Amanda which eventually highlight the twist to the story. However, I was prone to thinking that Amanda was simply caught between having a severe mental concern brought on by her husband’s many infidelities and the death of their child.

Inspired by True Crime Story About Darlie Routier

I was particularly surprised to discover the story is inspired by actual events that happened in Rowlette, Texas in 1996. Therefore, I have a sealed section for those looking for more information at the end of the write-up. The case stands today as an unsolved mystery nearly 20 years later with Darlie Lynn Peck Routier still fighting for her freedom. Her story has been a part of numerous television shows such as Forensic Files, Unsolved Mysteries, and 48 Hours.

As a matter of fact, the climax of the film and the nature of the unsolved mystery, caused me to be conflicted. To clarify, I have no issue with the meshing of film and true crime. However, this one just left me feeling somewhat unsatisfied.

I give Silhouette

2 movies based on an unsolved double homicide out of 5

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Spoiler and Explanation for Silhouette Movie